Quads & Glutes & Core Some More

Due to the issues with my knee ligament, I have been working a lot on things that strengthen the muscles around the knees and the legs. This includes holding the position in the picture below for extended periods of time. As of today, I'm up to four minutes and thirty seconds.

Also I do calf lifts with my knees bent to 45 degrees the entire time, facing a wall or half wall, with my knees held against each other. The wall is to place your fingertips against for stability. I'm up to 35 of these. 

There are also several custom exercises and stretches that I do to strengthen the ankles. 

Last night in class, I also did the dragon pearls again. These are arm, hand,  and core exercises done in a horse stance. 

I started feeling a cold coming on at work this morning, so I let the school know, and I am practicing at home for now.

Tonight I did my main leg exercises, several upper body full-range-of-motion isometric exercises, and on-the-floor core exercises. I finished with a set of knee pushups. 

Considering that I will be turning 64 in a month, I am very grateful to be gaining strength and mobility instead of losing them. At this age, this is the main point. Self defense is a side benefit to being able to preserve my ability to move on my own in my future years.

I feel like I started again just in time.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors.

I bow to the flags of our nation and art.

I bow to the masters, students, and martial arts practitioners who have passed this art down to us through the millennia.

Thank you All.

Regards,

Dan Stafford

Happy New Year 2026!

New Year's Ball Drop with fireworks

WE had class for two days this week, both Monday and Tuesday. Last week was the same. The holidays have come, and the year is gone. Happy 2026 to all of you!

This Monday and Tuesday, I worked a lot on Horse stance and knee strengthening exercises. I also did the dragon pearls, and Jhoong Bong staff practice. National Instructor Ben taught me stretches specific to Jhoong Bong practitioners on Tuesday evening.

I also started learning blocks and thrusts, strikes, and switching figure eight directions.

As for weight, I was down to 299 lbs on Christmas morning, and back at 309 lbs by the Monday after Christmas. As of New Year's Eve morning, I was back down to 306 lbs and falling. On this level, I'm glad the holidays have passed.

We also did a lot of core exercises yesterday evening on the floor, which I think is at least partially Pilates. When we did these last week, I was sore around the abdomen until yesterday morning. Today, I'm a little sore in the quads, shoulders and pecs, and abdomen, but the good kind of sore where you know the exercise did what you were trying for.

We're getting rain right now, and since the only place at home with enough room for Jhoong Bong practice at home is the back yard, I'm out of luck. At least until the sky dries up.

Keep moving, eh?

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

 

A Jhoong Bong Staff For Christmas

 

Jhoong Bong Staff For Christmas

My new Jhoong Bong staff arrived yesterday. It's a bit of a Christmas present to myself. I plan to stick with it until the Bo is a part of me.

Jhoong Bong Staff hung up

Practice yesterday and today was different. 

On Monday, it was largely stretches and strengthening exercises combined with energy meditation and breath work. This was much more of a workout than it sounds like. I broke a solid sweat by the end of class.

This evening, Tuesday, 12-23-2025, it was core exercises and kicks. A lot of it was done on the floor. 

I haven't tried many of these moves before, so I was starting from zero, referring to the core exercises, which are based on Pilates.

Thje kicks are another story - and towards the end, we were allowed to pull out the Wavemaster and practice on it, which was good. I was remembering my Tae Kwon Do & Karate classes from several years ago. Remembering, but having to rebuild the strength to get back to where I was then.

In all, it was a very good pre-Christmas workout.

I left a card for the staff at the school, hopefully they will find it.

Unfortunately, we're getting very rainy weather for the holidays, so I haven't been able to take the new Jhoong Bong outside and practice with it yet. I feel a little like a kid who got new electronics as a gift, but without the necessary batteries.

Still, it's good. The Jhoong Bong is very light weight. I'm looking forward to it. I think I'm going to call it "Dazzle."

I hope all of you reading this have a wonderful holiday and New Year!

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

Celebrating 12-20-2025 - A Date Which I Will Remember

 

Jun Bo at Christmas

Today, Saturday was a wonderful day.

However, to set the stage, we have to look back at Friday, December 19th. 

On Friday, work was interesting, but not difficult. This was good, because I got out on-time, and made it to school on-time and returned after four days out to recover from doing too much with the pearls. My back had been one big cramp for a couple of days, and I had let it settle back down for a couple of days more.

Lesson: Never work a group of rarely-used small muscles more than one day in a row. Always take a day off between and do different exercises.

On Friday, December 19th of 2025, I worked on leg-strengthening exercises, and then on Jun Bo. It was my second round of training. Basically, in English, we would call the Jun Bo a quarterstaff. It's about 6' long in my case. I just really love the feel of working with this weapon. Learning to spin it and control it feels good physically. I was really feeling a workout in my shoulders, upper back, chest, and bicep/tricep muscles. It was a good, slight soreness afterwards, the kind that you know is building strength.

I love working with the Jun Bo enough that I ordered my own online. It was a very reasonable price, and it's a really nice-looking hardwood Jun Bo from what the pictures show online. It should arrive sometime Christmas week.

Today, Saturday, 12-20-2025, I stepped onto the scale, and I was at 299 lbs. I have not been this light since 1999. This is despite a few holiday meals.

Getting up off our couch or low chairs is now much, much easier. A lot of things are. My clothes are also all much looser-fitting.

Finally, I was also able to work with the pearls again today, though I only did two sets. I'm feeling good.

I came home and decorated the front room inside our house for the holidays. I got the wreath put up on the front door, and Christmas flowers in the planter on the front porch. I also put some magnetic decorations on the car.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

Overdone.

 

Workout Sore

I overdid it in class - worked with the pearls on an exercise to strengthen the small muscle groups in my back along the spine. I had a serious talk with those back muscles, and now they're seriously talking back to me.

Mental note: Treat it like weightlifting. Don't work the same muscle groups two days in a row, especially not groups of small muscles that rarely get used.

My bad, but it'll make me more aware.

It also tells me that these muscles need strengthening, but carefully.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

Wow - I'm Really Enjoying Jung Bo Practice!

 

Gong Bo

I got a thorough workout with my pearls today, and then National Instructor Ben started teaching us Jung Bo, which is a six-foot hardwood staff. I absolutely love it!

There's something about the staff spinning that, when it's going properly, just feels fantastic. Plus, it's something I can do without stressing my knee.

I didn't think I would want to do weapons training, but this one makes the most sense out of all of them. I often carry a walking stick when walking around the neighborhood because we have coyotes, and lot of people walk their dogs. 

I am totally going to dive into this one.

Also to note, there is a small ritual to observe when you pick up a weapon to train with; First, you bow to the flags in the room. Second, you pick up the weapon. Third, you bow to the instructor teaching you the weapon forms.

When returning a weapon to storage, you bow to the flags, place the weapon in its proper place, and then bow to the flags again.

Also, I picked up my new gi (uniform) from the tailor shop with the patches added to the sleeves and the pant legs hemmed up. Today was the first day I wore mine to school. Also National Instructor Ben presented me with my first belt, and taught me how to tie it properly.

It was one of my favorite days in school so far.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan 

The Synchronicity Of Pearls

I definitely was having trouble with my knee in class this evening. However, National Instructor Ben brought in an upper-body workout that I can push hard on while my knee is in the process of healing.

They're like bean bags, but what's inside is larger than your typical bean bag filling. I suspect they're a large type of organic seed, because we had to write dates on them. Apparently, they're only good for 4-6 months.

We were given two each, one for each hand.

Then we walked through a series of exercises that work the hands, arms, and torso.

I didn't know this when I prompted Google Gemini to create the jade dragon poster, but these workout tools are called "pearls." 

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors.

I bow to the flags of our nation and art.

I bow to the masters, students, and martial arts practitioners who have passed this art down to us through the millennia.

Thank you All.

Regards,

Dan Stafford

We Passed Second Section On Monday.

Three of us passed our second section test on Monday evening.

We were tested on a couple of our stances, and how long we could hold those.

We were tested on four different forms as well, and also four different kicks, and punch combinations as well as chung combinations.

It's also very cool that we are all three of similar ages, early 50's to early 60's.

Upon passing second section in this art, we receive our first gi, but not the belt. Apparently that comes later.

It was a bit like Oom Yung Doe Christmas. A happy occasion.

I congratulate my classmates!

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors.

I bow to the flags of our nation and art.

I bow to the masters, students, and martial arts practitioners who have passed this art down to us through the millennia.

Thank you All.

Regards,

Dan Stafford

Slow, Careful Review...

Practice today in class was constructive. 

I was the only student in the dojo after the first twenty minutes, thanks to a special event in town.

I was able to practice all my current forms in slow motion, paying close attention to the footwork of turns, weight transitions, and pivots. I am suffering from a minor knee injury, and I'm modifying my forms to avoid any sideways stress on the injured knee.

I will be testing second-section on Monday evening. The school is aware that I'm testing with a minor injury, so they're making accommodations so that I don't injure the knee further.

It was very quiet, and I was able to maintain focus. It was helpful. I am slowing working the footing out.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

Climbing The Mountain Of Jade Ghost Dragon Practice...

 

Dragon Practice

It's a cautious time in my practice. More on that in a bit.

Just for reference, the "Jade Ghost Dragon" is becoming my personal totem - the "spirit" of my martial arts practice. There are times when this art seems quite spiritual. 

I've been suffering from a pulled ligament in my knee for a couple of weeks now. I'm working it through, but slowly.

A big part of it is how I shift my feet before moving from one position in a form to the next, and just as important is exactly how I shift my weight from one leg to the other.

I'm having to deeply and intently analyze the root footwork of every form, and again retrain my muscle memory to compensate. I'm taking my time, and consulting carefully with our instructors.

I am also doing a LOT of hard training to strengthen my knee muscles, quads, and glutes. Every bit of strength I can build in my legs will help - and is helping - stabilize my knee.

As National Instructor Ben stated tonight, there is a silver lining to my going through this now; When I become an instructor years from now, and I have a student who suffers with knee trouble, I will know exactly how to help them. What I also think is that I can in that case teach them some footwork from the very beginning that will help prevent doing any additional damage to their knees.

I'm hoping that I can make this a contribution to the art some day.

Jade Ghost Dragon, lead me safely up the mountain, so that I may help others with their climb some day.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

The Dietary Changes I Made In April 2025, Prior To Starting Oom Yung Doe In August, 2025

(With a couple of minor updates recently)

Breakfast:

* 3 hard-boiled eggs, rolled in various spices. (Not salt) (Video short of how I apply spices: https://youtube.com/shorts/jXErvbAli4o?si=FRxDUxINcgvOarRa )

* 1 carrot

* 1 celery stalk

* 1 radish (10-2025 addition)

* 2 generous handfuls of cherry tomatoes.

Lunch/snacks:

* 5 pitted Medjool dates

* 2 handfuls dried cherries

* 3-4 pieces of crystallized ginger 

* 3 handfuls of mixed nuts

* 2 handfuls of dried cranberries 

* 1 can of tuna fish 🐟 (Skipjack)

* Twice a week, 1 can individual-sized Bush's baked beans. (09-2025 addition)

* Occasional handful of wasabi and soy almonds 

Dinner Sun-Thur:

2 meals from Factor's "Chef's Choice" menu. ( Factor: Get 50% Off + FREE MyFitnessPal Premium+ https://share.google/s4nKBMjrmLh18NyQ5 )

Dinner Fri:

3 street fish tacos and 3 deep fried mushrooms from Killarney's Irish Pub in Temecula, CA 

Note: I do take the following supplements:

Daily:

1 multivitamin 

1 psyllium husk fiber caplet

1 3,000 mg D3

1 1,000 mg Fish Oil

1 Glucosamine Chondroitin

Every other day:

1 turmeric with piperene (black pepper extract)

All the a tumbler of V8 vegetable juice that has a splash of Cholula and a splash of Worcestershire sauce in it.

Regards,

Dan Stafford

More Tired Horse...

I was back in class last night, but my right knee is still giving me grief.

Doing a lot of leg and knee strengthening exercises.

Regards,

Dan Stafford

On-Call, The Importance Of Home Practice, And A Jade Dragon Lounge Update...

 

The "Jade Dragon Lounge"

I was able to get the Jade Dragon poster framed and hung in my home dojo, the "Jade Dragon Lounge" just yesterday.

I have been on-call for work since this past Friday and through today, so I haven't able to make it into class.

The flooring you see above is comprised of 12" x 12" interlocking padded tiles that are 1" thick. It makes a decent workout space, except for the lamp hanging above, which is very tall. I have a much lower-profile lamp on the way to replace it with soon.

I have been practicing every day at home since I have been on-call. My weight is now down to 302 lbs as I head into Thanksgiving, from a high of 342 lbs last April. I have lost 40 lbs through diet and exercise in seven months. I am still losing weight yet, although I expect Thanksgiving and Christmas to slow that a little.

Still, I plan to practice every day, even the holidays. I will be back to my regular 4-5 days per week in class on Monday.

One of my main mottos in life is "keep moving." By this I mean physical exercise. (The other is "life is better on a low-drama diet.")

Having a space to practice in at home is a huge, major blessing. I also try to work in little bits of exercise throughout the day wherever I have a few quiet moments. A little bit of "moving isometrics," or leg strengthening squats and lunges, or gyroball wrist, hand, and arm exercises.

I was also able to clip our school flags from the video of me demonstrating in the virtual tournament:

Oom Yung Doe school flags

We bow with respect to the school flags whenever we enter of leave our school. I think that is a very healthy practice.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

Brief Notes And How I Did In The Local Virtual Tournament...

So I ended up getting a bronze silver metal for my demonstration of Tae Guk Chung. (Short form Tai Chi)

This is the first form I learned, and though I am still perfecting it, I've made a lot of improvement in 2 months. 

That being said I've also found a couple of places where I've been twisting my knee slightly while doing this form. I've had to learn to retrain my muscle memory during a couple of the moves to open my foot, meaning to turn it out an angle before I make the move rather than after. However I will get this down. 

I am now down from 342 lb last April to 306 lb now, so my weight loss is on track. I also am feeling much much stronger walking around and moving through daily life. 

I am also trying to work small amounts of exercise in at various points throughout the day in order to help speed up strengthening my body for training. 

I don't really mind if it takes me 2 years, or 5 years, to get to a black belt. The point is to do it safely and preserve my mobility as I get older. That's the entire reason I started this style / system. 

I will persist. 

I bow to the students who have gone before me.

I bow to the instructors who have trained all my instructors throughout the lineage of my new art. 

I bow to all my fellow students. 

I am grateful for what I have found here, and those who have come before me.

Regards,

Dan Stafford

Time For Intense Focus And Caution...

I have been having trouble with my knee for a few days now. 

I've had trouble with it since I was a teenager, so I am not surprised.

Certain moves in the form are twisting my knee out of alignment. Some of it is me not opening my foot properly before a turning move, and a few points are my feet sticking to the floor too much.

I've discussed it with the head instructor, and I will be focusing 90% on my footwork until I am able to work through this. I also will be wearing socks to reduce friction when I have to rotate my weight-bearing foot.

I really don't mind if this slows me down. Better to get it worked out properly and committed to muscle memory, rather than to do damage to my ability to move.

Inch by inch, so be it.

With respect, thank you for reading.

Thank you to the teachers and students who have gone before me.

Keep moving.

Dan

Grasshoppers In Dragon School...

 

Grasshoppers At Dragon School

Today at school was very good, in several ways.

First, the master of our art in the US was there. I got to meet him briefly. It sounds like I will be working with him roughly around February - near my birthday - for advanced training and guidance on progression. I do have long-term goals for learning martial arts, with the intention to be of service to others. I feel that this will be a good thing.

Second, our Head National Instructor was there. He has an excellent sense of humor, and was teaching me some seemingly minor positional changes to my forms that lead to much greater engagement of my body core in what I'm doing. It's amazing what a difference small changes make in strength, structure, and engagement.

I worked out quite well, but my knee was still giving me grief. Our Assistant National Instructor helped me with some stretching exercises. I still am certain that the damp, rainy weather we're having right now is part of it. I've felt most storms coming in that knee since I was at least thirteen years old. However, it did improve. I will keep doing this particular stretch daily going forward.

It still amazes me, the kindness of this school. They work with people of all races, genders, ages, and conditions with kindness, consideration, and compassion. This really is a community, and so far, I have enjoyed meeting every person I've connected with here. I am grateful to be able to learn here, at this particular school, at this stage of my life.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

Thank you for reading.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

Rumor Has It...

 ...that the Master will be in town soon, and we'll get to meet him.

In this case, "master" is used as a title, and an indication of mastery of the art of Oom Yung Do, and meant with great respect.

I'm looking forward, actually, to see what this will be like. I don't know if the master will be evaluating students, teaching, or demonstrating, or just here on a social call. Somehow, I suspect it will be a bit of all the above.

I never in my wildest dreams thought I might meet of even speak to a master of a martial art. I thought such things in my life were relegated to the movies.

On another note, both practice and weight loss have had a tricky side this week. I really worked out hard on Tuesday, and my right knee was a little stiff and sore on Wednesday morning. I went and trained on Wednesday as well, and I was pretty sore afterwards. I've really been using the herbal recovery formula, and took the day off on Thursday for my wife's birthday. That helped with the sore knee. To be more accurate, my right knee has been stiff and achy, no sharp pains.

I worked out fairly solidly this morning (Friday), and that seemed to loosen the knee up a bit. I'm moving better now, and feel like I'm on the mend. 

However, Thursday off didn't help for weight loss at all. I was down to 303.8 Lbs on Wednesday & Thursday mornings. While I was off, I took my wife to her favorite dentist in Orange county. That resulted in me eating restaurant food twice in one day. I tried very hard to eat light, but the restaurant menus had no good options for that. Even skipping dinner, one day of eating in restaurants and not practicing put me at 308.6 Lbs this morning. That's about two weeks of weight loss gone in one day, for perspective. I feel like the Universe is warning me ahead of the holidays.

At the end of practice today, we did a walking meditation called "baghwa" walking. It involves controlling the breath and doing mental energy work, or pulling in Chi from the Universe. It's wonderful stuff, and leaves me feeling calm and energized.

I also took in the Jade dragon poster (I ordered a 24" x 36" print) in to a locally-owned custom frame shop here in town. The frame I chose is a green and bronze faux bamboo, with a natural hued linen matting, and low-glare, slightly matte finish glass. I'm so looking forward to hanging it in the Jade Dragon Lounge, AKA my home dojo. I'll post a picture of it hung after it is on the wall, but here's the image:

Jade Dragon Poster

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

Thank you for reading.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

My First Virtual Tournament...

Saturday I attended my first virtual tournament at Oom Yung Doe.

Tournaments in Oom Yung Doe are conducted in the manner of traditional martial arts tournaments prior to Westernization.

These tournaments are not sparring competitions. They are a series of demonstrations of various martial arts forms taught by the school.

Participants are judged on how well they have improved in their technique and form.

Everyone is cheering on the other participants. Good will is in the air, and the energy is very positive.

The demonstrations are amazing to watch. Participants are of all ages, races, and gender, and respect is not even a question. I am in my early 60's, and have watched demonstrations by students easily ten years senior to me and that left me envious of their ability to move in ways that I can't yet.

I know everyone there has worked diligently to achive these forms, and I feel privileged to be in their company.

The atmosphere is a microcosm of what I would wish and hope for greater society to become.

I demonstrated a short form of Tai Chi called Tai Guk Chung. (Update 11-14-2025: I looked it up in the study guide.)

We should get our results and access to videos of the demonstrations around November 22nd. I'm looking forward to it.

With respect,

Dan Stafford,

Bamboo Grasshopper.

The Jade Dragon Lounge Dojo...

The Dragon Lounge Dojo...

Space is all what you make of it,

Dusty wasteland,

Or useful living.

In this space something living is being created,

Learning,

Spiritual,

A suitable form,

A desired outcome,

Small treasures added each day.

The Dragon Lounge is being born,

A place to dance with Chi,

Find the center of my time and space,

Moving in meditation,

Soft as mist,

Hard as jade,

Hoping to fly.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford

© 11/08/2025

The Tired Horse...

The Tired Horse... 

Always working,

Always learning something new,

How can a thing grow old,

When it lives in a space of endless nuance? 

Tonight we started learning the barest inches of dagger form,

Tweaked our Tai Chi Chung,

Then practiced horse position,

As low as you can,

Halfway up,

Repeat until theee reps past burning quads.

Flex it out,

No,

Snap it out,

Front snap kicks.

Repeat,

Tired horse.

After meditation,

I practiced the rubber legs form,

But I don't think I will ever let myself,

I can't imagine,

Plopping down on a seat,

Not ever again.

My horse has earned a rest.

The Sun will rise again tomorrow,

But for now,

The stars can twinkle.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford

© 11/04/2025